How Kristy Lit the Path and Saved Rising Life

THE TALE OF RISING LIFE

Rising Life’s tale is a long and winding one, but I won’t bore you with that right now! However, the thing I get the most questions about is, “How do a husband and wife exist in the same band without killing each other?!” Of course Kristy and I both laugh out loud usually at that question, because, yes, there are hard times, however, the path is always lit when you are following God’s will. Before Kristy Glisson joined Rising Life, the path had went completely dark. Let me explain…

THE GIFT OF A WIFE, KRISTY GLISSON TO BE SPECIFIC

2012 had been a marquee year for Rising Life. The little ministry I had started with God's direction just a year prior had been on a real roller coaster ride. Radio play, tours, major opening slots, working with Grammy winning artists, It really was a lot to take in. Sometimes as humans, even with the best of intentions, we can let the devil in. As a band, that is what happened. Things got very rough near the end of that year. One of the members, who our entire sound had been built around, left to further pursue his dreams and as of this writing is living them out in a big way! One of the hardest things to find in Christian rock is a keyboard player. It was a major blow. As the year closed, further turmoil had seen another member go and also the dream I had held as a small boy, serving the Lord through my music ministry, dissipated before me eyes.

Let me back up briefly. Kristy, had been a real gift from God in many ways. One was that she was 1000% supportive of the band, the ministry, and was a real music lover. She believed in her soul and bones, that what we were doing was God’s will. Even if we ended up on the streets of New York city with an acoustic guitar, that was His will. Also I still had a “day” job at this time. I spent a lot of time in the car back and forth.

In the depths of my despair, I simply said, “Lord, I don’t believe you have brought me this far and through so much to have it all fall apart. I am putting this in Your hands.” I let that sit. Several days later, I heard an answer. As I was driving home, I heard a voice in my head as plain as day tell me, “Go home and tell Kristy she will take over playing keyboards for the ministry.” Ummmm….ok…….That is all I could think to feel or say. I mean…what?

GOD TELLS ME SOMETHING CRAZY

You see, Kristy didn’t play an instrument. Yes, I just dropped that on you. Kristy didn’t play an instrument. She played piano as a child, but had left that behind 20+ years ago. I questioned, “You got the right car?” Silence. Needless to say I kept that to myself. However, the next day, the same thing happened. I heard the exact same voice telling me the exact same thing. Well I just didn’t believe it. Kristy didn’t play, she wouldn’t play…

Finally, after a week of this, I said, “Alright!! You asked for it Lord!! OK…You are going to get exactly what You want! You are going to see that this is crazy. I am going to go home and walk in the kitchen and I am going to tell Mrs. Kristy Glisson that You told me she was playing keyboards and joining the ministry. Man we are going to look DUMB!”

So that is what I did. I walked in, Kristy was in the kitchen waiting for me. I said, “Umm, Babe? Ummm. I need to talk to you. ”

She looked at me with concern and said, “Ok, what’s up?”

I said, in probably what was the most baffled tone, “Ok, here it is…I’m just going to say it. God told me that you were going to play the keyboards in Rising Life….ok there I said it. ”

Kristy looked at me, her eyes welling up with tears, “You know, God has been telling me the same thing and I was going to talk to you today about it. When do we start?”

Soak that in for a minute, try to imagine being in that kitchen for a second. Tears flowed from our eyes and we hugged. Now, if that wasn’t enough, here comes the real kicker….

After dinner, we sat down at a keyboard, I had some charts, music, etc. Within about 2 hours, she not only learned our whole catalog, she was playing them absolutely PERFECTLY if not better than they had ever been played!!! WHAT??!! (Ok to all the you doubting Thomas’, there is footage of this and I plan on finding it and posting it.

IT’S IN THE BOOKS

Of course the rest is history. Here we are now, having released our greatest work and what better way to serve our Lord Almighty than by doing it side by side. This is how a wife, with God’s guidance, re-lit the path for a husband.

So what is the point? Well other than a killer story, I was like so many characters we have read in the bible. Disbelief, despair, not believing God had it. Asking for guidance, and when He answered, not believing the answer, or maybe not trusting His answer. The truth is, God has it under control. Like our song “Before I Drown” says, He doesn’t need us, but man if we just listen, it is the greatest thing in life to be a part of His will and plan.

So what does this have to do with you? A LOT! We wanted to let you know how much you all mean to us by sharing this intimate story with you. We could not be who we are or continue to live this dream if not for folks just like you. So thank you for taking the time to let Rising Life be a part of your life.